Pulverized coal combustion

For central station power generation the open cycle system using electrically conducting coal combustion products as the working fluid is employed. The fuel typically is pulverized coal burned directly in the MHD combustor, although in some plant designs cleaner fuels made from coal by gasification or by beneficiation have been considered (8—10) (see Fuels, synthetic). 

Sohd fuels are burned in a variety of systems, some of which are similar to those fired by Hquid fuels. In this article the most commonly burned soHd fuel, coal, is discussed. The main coal combustion technologies are fixed-bed, eg, stokers, for the largest particles pulverized-coal for the smallest particles and fluidized-bed for medium size particles (99,100) (see Coal). 

Pulverized-Goal Firing. This is the most common technology used for coal combustion in utiUty appHcations because of the flexibiUty to use a range of coal types in a range of furnace sizes. Nevertheless, the selection of cmshing, combustion, and gas-cleanup equipment remains coal dependent (54,100,101). 

The main stages of coal combustion have different characteristic times in fluidized beds than in pulverized coal combustion. Approximate times are a few seconds for coal devolatilization, a few minutes for char burnout, several minutes for the calcination of limestone, and a few hours for the reaction of the calcined limestone with SO2. Hence, the carbon content of the bed is very low (up to 1% by weight) and the bed is 90% CaO in various stages of reaction to CaSO. About 10% of the bed s weight is made up of coal ash (91). This distribution of 90/10 limestone/coal ash is not a fixed ratio and is dependent on the ash content of the coal and its sulfur content. 

FIG. 27-20 Effect of moisture in coal on pulverizer capacity. Sufficient drying can be accomplished to restore capacity if air temperatures are high enough. [K = ( F -I- 459.7)/1.8] (Combustion Engineer, Combustion Engineeiing Inc., New York, 1966. )... 

A laboratory study has been undertaken to characterize the aerosol produced during pulverized coal combustion. The emphasis in this work has been on the particulate matter present in the flue gases at the inlet to the gas cleaning equipment rather than that leaving the stack. Coal is burned at conditions which simulate the combustion region of coal-fired utility boilers. 

Although the data presented here are limited to a single coal burned in two combustor operating modes, several important observations can be made about the fine particles generated by pulverized coal combustion. The major constituents of the very small nucleation generated particles vary with combustion conditions. High flame temperatures lead to the volatilization of refractory ash species such as silica and alumina, probably by means of reactions which produce volatile reduced species such as SiO or Al. At lower flame temperatures which minimize these reactions other ash species dominate the fine particles. Because the major constitutents of the fine particles are relatively refractory, nucleation is expected to occur early in the combustion process. More volatile species which condense at lower temperatures may also form new particles or may condense on the surfaces of the existing particles. Both mechanisms will lead to substantial enrichment of the very small particles with the volatile species, as was observed for zinc. 

Flagan, R.C. and Friedlander, S.K. "Particle Formation in Pulverized Coal Combustion-A Review," presented at Symposium on Aerosol Science and Technology, Eight-Second National Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Atlantic City, N.J. 29 August -1 September 1976. 

Neville, M., Quann R.J., Haynes, B.S., and Sarofim, A.F., "Vaporization and Condensation of Mineral Matter During Pulverized Coal Combustion," presented at the 18th International Symposium on Combustion, January (1980). 

Modem coal combustion employs two principal techniques combustion in a fluidized bed or pulverization, followed by combustion of fine particles suspended in moving air. Figure 1 shows a schematic of pulverized coal combustion, a process much used in steam-raising plants. Each process produces a characteristic residue fluidized bed combustion gives rise mainly to a clinker-like or granular product, whereas pulverization, followed by combustion, produces mainly a much finer, micrometre-sized ash residue. Pulverization also yields a coarser fraction, the so called bottom ash , which is periodically removed without difficulty. However, the finer fly ash has to be recovered by filtration and electrostatic precipitation. Commercially, fly ash has... 

Based on the above description of the coal combustion process several conclusions become apparent. First, the type and amount of ash accumulated during coal combustion greatly depends on the mineralogy of the coal being used, the combustion process, and the presence of emission control devices. Secondly, the chemical forms in which elements are found in ash are affected by coal combustion process variables such as combustion temperature and the mode of combustion (e.g., pulverized-coal fired, fluidized bed, cyclone, stoker). Lastly, the amount of CCPs accumulated by power plants is predominantly a consequence of the presence of emission control devices. The latter is supported by the fact that the total amount of CCPs produced in the US has increased significantly since the use of electrostatic precipitators became prevalent in the early 1970s (Simsiman et al. 1987). 

Ash from pulverized coal combustion is a strategic material that has many critical applications from a source of aggregate to the most important source of pozzolan for addition to Portland cement concrete. Environmental control measures on the emissions of coal combustion have resulted in a loss of quality for these materials. In response we have seen the advent of beneficiation processes applying both proven and new technologies to produce high-quality consistent products from these materials. Currently we estimate that about one-fifth of all ash products marketed are processed through some form of beneficiation method. We expect that the demand for quality and consistency will continue and the relative amount of process ash products will increase in the future. 

The combustion of pulverized coal at both atmospheric and higher pressure has been studied by Hazard and Buckley (4G), using three sizes of burners. The coal is pulverized to 93% through a 200-mesh screen. Experiments on burning pulverized coal under pressure have also been described (7G). 

Seames, W.S. and Wendt, J.O.L. (2000) The partitioning of arsenic during pulverized coal combustion. Symposium International on Combustion, 28(2), 2305-312. 

Pulverized coal combustion systems are most commonly used in power plants. In pulverized coal combustion, temperatures typically reach around 1480 °C at atmospheric pressure. In the past couple of decades, fluidized bed combustion (FBC) technologies have been commercialized. These combustors often use limestone bed materials to capture sulfur gases. They operate at about 880 °C and usually at atmospheric pressure (Smoot and Smith, 1985), 38. 

Hazanov, Z., Goldman. Y. and Tamnat, Y. M. (1985). Opposed-flow combustion of pulverized coal. Combustion Flame, 6 119-130. 

The volume diameter of a particle may be useful in applications where equivalent volume is of primary interest, such as in the estimation of solids holdup in a fluidized bed or in the calculation of buoyancy forces of the particles. The volume of a particle can be determined by using the weighing method. Sauter s diameter is widely used in the field of reacting gas-solid flows such as in studies of pulverized coal combustion, where the specific surface area is of most interest. 

For a given size distribution, various averaged diameters can be calculated, depending on the forms of weighing factors. The selection of an appropriate averaged diameter of a particle system depends on the specific needs of the application. For instance, in a pulverized coal combustion process, the surface area per unit volume may be important. In this case, Sauter s averaged diameter should be chosen. 

The development of the Lagrangian models has been limited mainly by the inherent need for large computing capacity to carry out statistical averaging and computation of the phase interactions. The Lagrangian models are particularly applicable to very dilute or discrete flow situations for which multifluid models are not appropriate, or to situations in which the historic tracking of particles is important (such as in pulverized coal combustion in a furnace or the tracking of radioactive particles in gas-solid flows). 

EPRI Final Report 1235-2a, June 1976. "Laboratory Analysis of Solvent Refined Coal-Technical Report 1". EPRI Final Report 1235-2b, June 1976. "Solvent Refined Coal Evaluation Pulverization, Storage and Combustion-Technical Report 2". 

At the same time calculations on the modified MEIS are possible without additional kinetic models and do not require extra experimental data for calculations, which makes it possible to use less initial information and obviously reduces the time and labor spent for computing experiment. Furthermore, there arise principally new possibilities for the analysis of methods to mitigate emissions from pulverized-coal boilers, since at separate modeling of different mechanisms of NO formation the measures taken can result in different consequences for each in terms of efficiency. Consideration of kinetic constraints in MEIS will substantially expand the sphere of their application to study other methods of coal combustion (fluidized bed, fixed bed, etc.) and to model processes of forming other pollutants such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, CO, soot, etc. 

Solomon, P. R., and Serio, M. A., Evaluation of Coal Pyrolysis Kinetics, in Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry of Pulverized Coal Combustion, J. Lahaye and G. Prado (Eds ), Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987. 

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